With the impact of artificial intelligence impacting corporate operations, the landscape of how MIT students are studying entrepreneurship and choosing to create new businesses is seeing rapid change. To address how these student startups are being built, the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship held month-long discussions with key stakeholders to help shape the new direction of delta v, MIT’s capstone entrepreneurship accelerator for student startups.
Two successful Boston tech entrepreneurs have stepped forward to fund MIT’s growth ventures through a combined $600 million gift that supports the delta v accelerator’s completion in the Trust Center. Ed Hallen MBA ’12 and Andrew Bialecki, co-founders of the Boston-based customer relationship management firm Klaviyo, are making this gift to support the next phase of technology-driven entrepreneurship at MIT.
“In the early days of Klaviyo, we learned almost everything by building, testing assumptions, making mistakes, and figuring things out as we went along,” says Hallen. “MIT delta v creates a common learning-and-doing environment for students, surrounding them with advice and resources that help startups build with clarity and speed. We’ve seen the difference delta v can make for startups, and we’re excited to help the Trust Center expand that opportunity for the next generation of students.”
“We’ve always believed that the world needs more entrepreneurs, and that Boston should be one of the leading places,” adds Bialecki. “Boston is an innovation hub with ambitious students and a strong community of founders. MIT delta v plays an important role in developing early stage entrepreneurs, not just helping them start companies but helping them build long-lasting companies.
The Martin Trust Center plans to “run the accelerator” with funding. Realizing the potential as AI affects how students are able to build companies, as well as the increased interest students are showing to learn about entrepreneurship during their time on campus, is a major driver of this change. One of the biggest impacts will be the ability for delta v participants to earn up to $75,000 in free cash during the program, up from $20,000 in previous years.
In addition, delta v will be introducing a model made up of leading founders from companies such as HubSpot, Okta, and Kayak, C-suite executives, academics, and early-stage investors who will all be providing valuable guidance and training to student businesses.
“Core to MIT’s mission is developing technologies and solutions that can help solve the world’s most pressing problems,” says MIT Provost Anantha Chandrakasan. “The AI revolution is creating exciting new opportunities for MIT students to build the next wave of powerful companies, and the delta v accelerator is the perfect vehicle to help them make it happen.”
In recent years MIT-founded startups like Cursor and Delve that use AI as a central part of their business have seen explosive growth in customers and revenue as well as value. In addition, delta v alumni businesses and their companies such as Klarity and Reducto are offering software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms using AI tools while Vertical Semiconductor is growing thanks to providing energy solutions that data centers need to power today’s computing needs. These are just some of the businesses MIT students are looking at as models they can follow to build and start successfully, whether they are working on solving health, climate, finance, the future of work, or another global problem.
“MIT Sloan is a business education center, part of a unique ecosystem of collaboration across MIT to solve problems,” says Richard M. Locke, John C Head III Dean at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “The Delta v project is a great example of how MIT students are devoting their energy to starting a business, connecting with mentors, and putting together a proven, disciplined business plan. This gift from Ed Hallen and Andrew Bialecki will provide additional funding for this important program, and I am very grateful for their support of entrepreneurship education at MIT.”
“I remember when Ed and Andrew were launching Klaviyo at the Trust Center,” says Bill Aulet, Ethernet Inventors Professor of Practice and executive director of the Trust Center. “Through their ingenuity and drive, they have created an innovative technology company here in Boston with the support of our ecosystem. Through their desire to give back, many other students are now able to follow their lead and become entrepreneurs who can create amazing things in the world.”
Applications for the next delta v cohort will open on March 1 and close on April 1. The cohorts will be announced in May for the summer 2026 accelerator.
“MIT delta v is about creating faith in our unique technical talent – and turning that faith into something that matters to the world. By supporting early-stage founders who take bold ideas from the unimaginable to the possible, we help them build valuable companies,” says Ana Bakshi, head of the Trust Center. “Our students are the next generation of job creators, economic drivers, and thought leaders. To realize this potential, it is critical that we continue to invest and expand programs and facilities so that they can build at unprecedented levels. Ed and Andrew’s generosity gives us a powerful opportunity to change the pace—and make the future possible.”
Founded in 1991, the award-winning Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship is today focused on teaching entrepreneurship as a profession. It combines evidence-based business systems, used in more than 1,000 other organizations, with learning experiences, experiences, and community building inside and outside the classroom to create the next generation of technology-driven entrepreneurs. Alumni who have gone through Trust Center Programs have founded companies including Cursor, Delve, Okta, HubSpot, PillPack, Honey, WHOOP, Reducto, Klarity, and Biobot Analytics, and thousands more in various industries such as biotech, climate and energy, AI, healthcare, fintech, business and consumer software, etc.
In Delta v’s first decade, alumni of the program helped create businesses that have gone on to achieve remarkable success. The five-year survival of their companies is 69%, and they have raised more than 3 billion dollars solving major problems around the world – evidenced by the fact that 89% of them are in line with the goals of the UN Sustainable Development.
#MITs #delta #accelerator #receives #grant #supercharge #startups #built #student #startups
